With several players missing as well as Patrick Vieira from the touchline, the last thing Palace needed was another absence in the coming weeks but two disappointing bookings for Wilfried Zaha ensured a damage limitation performance in the second half for the Eagles.
DATE
26th December 2021
RESULT
Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 Crystal Palace
VENUE
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, 782 High Road, London N17 0BX
OFFICIALS
Referee: Jonathan Moss. Assistants: Marc Perry, Timothy Wood. Fourth official: Stephen Martin. VAR: Simon Hooper. Assistant VAR: Matthew Wilkes
DISCIPLINE
BOOKINGS – Wilfried Zaha (26), James Tomkins (46), Davison Sanchez (68)
RED CARD – Wilfried Zaha (37)
GOALS
Harry Kane (32), Lucas Moura (34), Son Heung-Min (74)
ASSISTS
Lucas Moura (32, 74), Emerson Royal (34)
TEB VERDICT
The build up to the game was clearly not ideal with a number of players missing along with Vieira and the club being criticised for applying to have the game postponed. Hopefully there will be some clarity on this in the coming hours but the moment Zaha received the second of two silly bookings, the writing was on the wall. It was a stubborn second half performance at least from the Eagles but this was very much one to forget for a number of reasons.
BOB’S POINT OF VIEW
Bob White was a coach at Palace under the tenure of Steve Coppell and Alan Smith and will be sharing his point of view each week in our review article.
“The pre-match build up was dominated by ‘noise’ around whether the game would go ahead due to a COVID infection break out in our Club. What is for certain, there does needs to be greater clarity, transparency and communication by the Premier League around the criteria being applied to games being postponed or allowed to go ahead as planned.
Ultimately, although we had five players missing from the squad apparently due to COVID, plus our manager, only one change was made to the team that started last time out against Southampton. However, it did leave us with fewer options on the bench.
We started the game confidently, pressing high, frequently quickly regaining the ball and maintaining controlled possession. However, it too often ended up with possession without purpose to threaten the Spurs defence. With the game looking like it may drift to a goalless first half, a five minute spell decided the outcome of the game.
Two goals conceded almost out of nothing then Zaha receiving a second yellow for reacting petulantly when as one of our senior players he should know better. At times earlier in the half Zaha cut a frustrated figure conceding possession too easily so maybe it was no surprise that we ended up with ten players for the remaining 55 minutes of the game.
Analysing those first two goals, Tomkins in attempting to nick the ball on the half way line left critical space behind him for Moura to exploit and Kane to open Spurs’ account. Critically for their second goal, Andersen was rather rooted to the spot allowing Moura to climb above him for a headed finish. I do expect my centre backs to be physically stronger in the box defending any aerial threat – a key area for improvement.
With the result all but settled, the second half was mainly about damage limitation, especially with the current shortage of squad options, not taking too much out of our players legs with the Norwich game only 48 hours away.
Once Spurs scored their third, with Gallagher one booking away from a suspension, it was a wise decision to substitute him. To be fair to those who remained on the pitch, every player put in a full shift during the second half. Certainly no faulting their commitment, a disappointing result and performance but individually Mitchell especially deserves a worthy mention in dispatches for his display. He has matured into a very good full back at the top level.
Norwich on Tuesday becomes a crucial game in maintaining a clear distance from the relegation zone going into 2022. Let’s just hope a few of the missing players today due to COVID are available to increase our attacking options especially with the absence of Zaha. Up the Palace, and a Happy New Year everyone!”
PLAYER RATINGS
1 Jack Butland (6), 2 Joel Ward (6), 5 James Tomkins (6), 16 Joachim Andersen (6), 3 Tyrick Mitchell (7), 23 Conor Gallagher (6), 8 Cheikhou Kouyate (6), 12 Will Hughes (7), 11 Wilfried Zaha (5), 9 Jordan Ayew (6), 22 Odsonne Edouard (6)
SUBSTITUTES – 6 Marc Guehi, 14 Jean-Philippe Mateta (6 – replaced Edouard on 63 mins), 15 Jeffrey Schlupp (6 – replaced Gallagher on 76 mins), 19 Remi Matthews, 34 Martin Kelly, 36 Nathan Ferguson (6 – replaced Tyrick Mitchell on 82 mins), 44 Jairo Riedewald
OPPOSITION LINE-UP
1 Lloris, 6 Sanchez, 15 Dier, 25 Tanganga, 12 Leite de Souza Junior, 29 Skipp, 5 Holbjerg, 3 Reguilon, 27 Lucas Moura, 7 Son Heung-Min, 10 Kane
SUBSTITUTES – 2 Doherty, 8 Winks, 11 Gil (replaced Son Heung-Min on 76 mins), 14 Rodon, 20 Alli, 22 Gollini, 23 Bergwijn (replaced Kane on 64 mins), 28 Ndombele (replaced Holberg on 79 mins), 33 Davies
POST GAME QUOTES
OSIAN ROBERTS – “The two goals and the red card changed the game. It is always a difficult place to come. We knew it would be difficult with eleven men on the pitch but it made it even more difficult after the red card. I haven’t seen the bookings back to give an honest assessment but of course we were disappointed. We tried to be compact and get something on the break but unfortunately it was very difficult for us after that.”
ANTONIO CONTE – “It was three important points. We started a bit slow but then we got chances to score and we scored the first and second goals and to play against ten men was easier for us. But sometimes despite this it happens against ten men that I have lost in my career and the focus and attention of my players and attitude was good. It was a good performance. The most important thing now is to recover well.”
MATCH STATISTICS
The Who Scored man of the match was Lucas Moura (9.0) who also had the most shots (5). The most tackles were made by Sergio Reguilon, Emerson Royal and Will Hughes (5) and the most dribbles were by Son Heung-Min, Harry Kane, Lucas Moura and Joel Ward (2)
- Team rating: 7.29 – 6.00
- Total shots: 17 – 4
- Shots on target: 6 – 0
- Possession: 59.3% – 40.7%
- Pass success: 91% – 83%
- Passes: 592 – 396
- Dribbles: 9 – 5
- Aerials won: 15 – 9
- Tackles: 23 – 18
- Fouls: 16 – 10
- Corners: 4 – 2
- Saves: 0 – 3
- Dispossessed: 9 – 12
POSITION IN THE TABLE
At the final whistle Palace were 12th in the Premier League with 20 points from 18 games played, level with Brentford in 11th and Brighton in 13th.
UPCOMING FIXTURES
28/12/21 Norwich City (h) – Premier League (3pm)
01/01/21 West Ham United (h) – Premier League (5.30pm)
08/01/21 Millwall (a) – FA Cup (12.45pm)
